Service Opportunities

Last weekend we went to a surprise birthday party at restaurant here in town. The party was great. The service was, well, not. I will choose to take the higher ground and leave it nameless. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt that this was a semi-isolated incident. I doubt it, but we'll assume.

You see, this wasn't the first time we received bad service at this restaurant. And by bad, I really do mean bad. A couple of years ago, Joel and I went to the this particular dining establishment because it is close to a movie theater. We went about 2 hours early, purchased our movie tickets and then went to eat. I mention the time frame because we really did have plenty of time. One would think.

We ordered our meal and then waited. And waited. And waited And waited. I know I tend to exaggerate, but we really waited about 45 minutes for our food. And it's not like we ordered filet mignon or Joel's favorite to say "duck al oronge" or anything. We're talking about burgers and fries. At 45 minutes we finally found our waiter (Joel was about ready to just walk into the kitchen at this point). We got our food about 15 minutes after that. Something about not putting the order in the computer...It was so late at this point we had to get the food packed up and we ate it in the movie theater. I'm all for eating in the movie theater. Popcorn. M & M's even milk duds. A burger & fries? Not so much. And we got no apology or compensation on our bill.

So it was with much anticipation that we arrived at this restaurant on Friday night. Thankfully, the husband of the "birthday girl" had made reservations since it was going to be about 30 people. We were optimistic. They knew we were coming, so they would have plenty of happy, helpful, quick-footed servers, right? Wrong.

Joel & I were the first ones to arrive at about 6:50pm. I am, in fact, an overachiever. Other guests began to arrive and we settled into our seats. And the wait began. And I'm not talking about for the guest of honor. She came right on time--about 30 minutes after we arrived.

And then we waited. At about 7:45 we got our drinks. So much for being home by 8:30. We finally got some yummy appetizers. They were very delicious. Or was I just so hungry that calamari would have tasted good? I'm not sure.

During all of this time, we did have a great time visiting with friends and sadly, making fun of the service. There were times when our waitress would come over and take an empty glass from the person next to me, I would raise my glass to hand it to her (being empty and all) and she would turn and walk away. She would then get upset when I asked her, upon her return with my neighbor's full glass, to fill up mine too.

In the end, we did get to eat some dinner. Joel got the wrong salad--he ordered one with no avocados (he's very allergic to them) and some cheese. His came with avocados and no cheese. Very disappointing. You know that feeling--you ordered something from the menu and you think about it for the entire time you're waiting for a meal and then it doesn't live up to your expectations. Our friend ordered a side salad and was given a dinner salad. It cost $6 more than she wanted to pay. The waiter did apologize because it was his mistake, but then charged her full price for it anyway.

We got home about 10:00pm.

I began to think "What did I really expect from this experience?"
Here's my list:
1. Fast, quick service, responding to my every need
2. Please do it with a cheerful attitude. I get enough grief in my life from other people, I don't need it at a restaurant.
3. Stay out of the way when I don't need you

WOW. I'm annoying. Some people might call it other names, but that's what I'll say here. And don't think you're getting off scott free. I know that's what you'd say you wanted from a waiter or waitress or airline attendant or grocery clerk or telemarketer or a customer service agent...We all want that kind of service.

Yet, how often do we give that kind of service? That might be what our waiter or waitress or airline attendant or grocery clerk or telemarketer or a customer service agent want from us. I'll throw in your child's teacher, too, just for good measure. What about God? Doesn't he want that kind of service from us too?

Let's look at that list again.

1. Fast, quick service, responding to my every need.
I am reminded of 1 Samuel 14 when Saul waits around to attack the
Philistines. But Jonathan knows what God wants & climbs over a cliff with his young armor bearer and ONE sword and picks a fight with an entire army. Saul was waiting around back at camp trying to decide what to do. Talk about fast, quick service and responding to God's every need.

2. Please do it with a cheerful attitude. I get enough grief in my life from other people, I don't need it at a restaurant (or from my chosen people).
2 Corinthians 9:7 "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." I hope I'm not mis-representing this verse. But I do think "giving" means not only our money, but also our time & talents.

3. Stay out of the way when I don't need you
So I don't really have a verse about this, but what I mean by this is don't get your nose in business that doesn't concern you. We often try to do the work of God and we just mess it all up because it's not what God asked us to do. God doesn't really need us to do his work. He just chooses to use us because he's a gracious, loving, merciful God. If you have a good verse or bible story, let me know.

In the end, this is the verse that comes to my mind:
Philippians 2: 3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

So my hope for myself is that during this busy, frantic, over-commercialized season I can remember my list of wants and try to do it myself. We can hope.